Psychology Simplified on Happiness Achieved by Good Memories

Good memories stem first, of course, from our use of our natural powers of visualisation, you might say associated at the same time with the emotional feelings they evoke and other senses we trigger. But isn’t this fantasising? Isn’t this indulging in delusion of the worst kind? Isn’t this a flagrant misuse of our imagination?  I would say, ‘No! No! and ten times No!’ Also I would maintain that it is a vital activity for people of a certain age, no longer able to travel freely and now living alone having lost a partner. How can this mental activity help us achieve happiness?

Our powers of imagination are extraordinary in replicating any real event in our mind. Our natural talent to recall it all visually is no less than our power to remember the sounds of that memory, the texture, and even the scents associated with it.

If, for example, a widow or widower having had a very happy relationship with a partner who he or she has now lost, can draw laughter and happiness from recalling in the mind, or in an album or on film those happy times, there is burgeoning scientific evidence to show that our minds body and spirit will respond just as if we were experiencing the real thing.

Take the issue of fitness which for various reasons tails off as one grows older, taking with it much needed muscle tone. Research has shown that merely by watching replays of physical activities one has been involved in previously can cause the muscle tone to improve! Our minds are greatly underestimated as remarkable conditioning and rehabilitating tools. 

There is however one serious downside to this which warrants a great caution. Recalling sad memories, trawling over them morbidly, re- playing them, and reinforcing them have exactly the same degrading effect on our health and happiness as did the original sad events. That should be avoided like the plague.

Personally I believe none of this will surprise people. What is surprising to some, however, is the extent of reticence about actually doing anything about it when the benefits of good memories can be profound. By indulging happily in this, without embarrassment or self-consciousness, all the beneficial chemical and hormonal flows are triggered, just as they were when the original events took place.

So how can one better guarantee recreating and sustaining the beneficial aspects of good memories?

I would advocate that one looks for a moral in in one’s own happy recollections, finds a relevant story, and looks for similar experiences posted on the internet. With that information, one shares it with others, and writes about it and finds opportunities to talk about it. When doing so, one replicates the same passion and happy feelings one felt originally. Exhorting others can be just as effective.

Yes, of course, happiness can be and should be achieved from new events and experiences enjoyed today. But we can still all achieve it in good measure by reliving good memories in a whole series of forms and by encouraging others to do the same.

Gerry Neale

Author of Squaring Circles ISBN 9780956868824 Published in Paperback

Available from www.amazon.co.uk or via www.squaringcircles.co.uk